Jo

Girl name

Jo has been given to 180,911 babies in the U.S. since 1881. It peaked in 1954.

Meaning & origin /d͡ʒəʊ/

Clipping or hypochoristic form of various female given names beginning with Jo..., primarily Joan, Joanna, etc. but also Josephine and Jolene. Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna in reference to the first derivation.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

180,911

Peak year

1954 (8,077 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1881

10-year trend

▲ +63%

Gender split

99% girls / 1% boys

Famous people named Jo

Raquel Welch

American actress (1940–2023)

Jo Nesbø

Norwegian novelist, musician and economist

Jo Van Fleet

American actress (1915-1996)

Adrienne Barbeau

American actress

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Jo.

188,287 babies since 1880

172,330 babies since 1880

170,646 babies since 1918

169,795 babies since 1880

156,738 babies since 1886

205,546 babies since 1896

153,560 babies since 1914

210,698 babies since 1881

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